Spring Break
College of Education partners with local neighborhoods
Nick Veronin
Issue date: 2/15/07 Section: News
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There is an answer for San Jose State University students having trouble seeing just how the skills they are learning here on campus can be applied in that place so often referred to as "The Real World."
CommUniverCity uses college minds to help develop real-life solutions to real-life problems in the local community, according to Susan Meyers, dean of the college of education at SJSU and pioneer of the program.
CommUniverCity works with community leaders, SJSU students and the city of San Jose to provide local neighborhoods with support in the form of health information, tutoring and voter registration drives, among other services, according to Paul Pereira, neighborhood team manager for San Jose's Strong Neighborhood Initiative.
The project is Meyers' brainchild. She said that the original concept behind CommUniverCity was to provide students at SJSU with a quality applied-learning experience while simultaneously serving the actual needs of a local community.
Meyers said the organization works closely with local neighborhood leaders and the city of San Jose to compile a list of community needs, then engages SJSU students to apply their own specialized skills by responding to those needs through service and learning.
Leif Christiansen is an AmeriCorps volunteer in service to America, working for the CommUniverCity project. As a volunteer in service, Christiansen said he is paid by AmeriCorps for working on the CommUniverCity project.
AmeriCorps is a network of service programs working on local, state and national levels to address the most critical needs of Americans in the areas of education, public safety, health and the environment, according to www.americorps.org, the organization's official Web site.
He said that the volunteers sign up for a year to work with new or low-budget non-profit organizations. CommUniverCity is just such a non-profit.
Christiansen seconded Meyers' assertion that CommUniverCity provides SJSU students with a valuable learning environment by getting them to apply what they've learned in school.
CommUniverCity uses college minds to help develop real-life solutions to real-life problems in the local community, according to Susan Meyers, dean of the college of education at SJSU and pioneer of the program.
CommUniverCity works with community leaders, SJSU students and the city of San Jose to provide local neighborhoods with support in the form of health information, tutoring and voter registration drives, among other services, according to Paul Pereira, neighborhood team manager for San Jose's Strong Neighborhood Initiative.
The project is Meyers' brainchild. She said that the original concept behind CommUniverCity was to provide students at SJSU with a quality applied-learning experience while simultaneously serving the actual needs of a local community.
Meyers said the organization works closely with local neighborhood leaders and the city of San Jose to compile a list of community needs, then engages SJSU students to apply their own specialized skills by responding to those needs through service and learning.
Leif Christiansen is an AmeriCorps volunteer in service to America, working for the CommUniverCity project. As a volunteer in service, Christiansen said he is paid by AmeriCorps for working on the CommUniverCity project.
AmeriCorps is a network of service programs working on local, state and national levels to address the most critical needs of Americans in the areas of education, public safety, health and the environment, according to www.americorps.org, the organization's official Web site.
He said that the volunteers sign up for a year to work with new or low-budget non-profit organizations. CommUniverCity is just such a non-profit.
Christiansen seconded Meyers' assertion that CommUniverCity provides SJSU students with a valuable learning environment by getting them to apply what they've learned in school.
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